Oldest weapons discovered in North America tell us more about first Americans, researchers say

Researchers believe these spear points they dug up are the oldest weapons ever discovered in North America. The findings raise new questions about where the first humans in the Americas settled.
USA TODAY

Researchers at Texas A&M University excavate a site in central Texas.(Photo: Texas A&M University)

Michael Waters, a professor of anthropology and director of the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas A&M, said in a statement the spear points were used for hunting game in the region.

"The findings expand our understanding of the earliest people to explore and settle North America," Waters said in a statement. "The peopling of the Americas during the end of the last Ice Age was a complex process and this complexity is seen in their genetic record. Now we are starting to see this complexity mirrored in the archaeological record."

Last year, a study published in the journal Nature claimed ancient humans reached the New World much earlier than previously thought. Although most evidence points to the first humans entering the Americas about 15,000 years ago, the study said humans might have arrived here at least 130,000 years ago.